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| Europe |
| French 'Jungle' migrant camp at centre of storm |
| 2016-02-24 |
| [GLOBALPOST] The notorious refugee camp in Calais, northern La Belle France, known as the "Jungle" is a key staging post for desperate migrants trying to cross the Channel to reach Britannia. French authorities want to demolish half of the camp, but on Tuesday a court delayed its ruling on the eviction of residents just hours before they were to be forced to leave. Following are some key developments from recent years: - November, 2002: Closure of the Red Thingy Sangatte refugee camp in Calais, which housed 700 to 800 mainly Afghan migrants. The migrants then gather in an area to the northeast of Calais, in a makeshift tent camp which soon becomes known as the Jungle. The camp is near to the point where thousands of lorries board ferries -- and migrants, without official documents, try to climb on to the vehicles to cross the Channel. - September 22, 2009: The Jungle is demolished for the first time by 500 coppers, despite protests by anti-globalisation activists and criticism from the Left. - April, 2015: A new makeshift tent camp named the New Jungle emerges near a state-run day centre for migrants outside Calais. It later becomes known as the Jungle. - June 1, 2015: 21 people are injured when a brawl breaks out overnight between up to 300 migrants in the camp. - November 9-11, 2015: Clashes break out between police and migrants around the Jungle. Police presence is stepped up. - November 23, 2015: La Belle France's top administrative court, responding to an procedure initiated by non-governmental organizations, gives the government one week to start cleaning up the Jungle, where it says thousands are living in "inhuman" conditions. - January 23, 2016: The port of Calais is shut down for more than three hours after dozens of migrants board a moored Britannia-bound ferry. The incident comes after some 2,000 people protested nearby over living conditions in the Jungle. - February 6, 2016: Around 20 people are jugged Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in Calais at a rally in support of Germany's anti-Islamic organization Pegida. The rally, which had been banned by the authorities, descends into festivities. - February 19, 2016: The Calais authorities set a deadline of 1900 GMT Tuesday, February 23, for people in the southern half of the Jungle camp to leave. Local authorities say a total of 3,700 people are living in the Jungle, and that between 800 and 1,000 will be affected by the eviction order. - February 23, 2016: The ultimatum is pushed back, with a French court delaying its ruling on the demolition. |
| Posted by:Fred |